ぼら

Japanese
Alternative spellings
鰡
鯔

Etymology

Unknown. Japanese dictionaries do not indicate when this term first appears in text.[1][2][3][4]

Monolingual sources speculate that this may be from some element ho ("fat") + 腹 (hara, “belly”),[5][6] but there is no solid evidence for any ho element with this meaning; the closest by sound is 頬 (ho, “cheek”, from ancient popo), and the closest by meaning is 太 (futo, “fatness”, from ancient puto).

The same fish name has suggestive overlap with Sahidic Coptic ⲃⲱⲣⲉ (bōre), Bohairic Coptic ⲫⲟⲣⲓ (phori) and ϥⲟⲣⲓ (fori), whence its modern Arabic name بُورِي (būrī).

Pronunciation

Noun

ぼら or ボラ • (bora) ←ぼら (bora)?

  1. flathead mullet, Mugil cephalus

Usage notes
  • As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).
  • This fish has different names (出世魚) depending on regional dialect and the size of the fish. See 鯔. For a fuller list, see ボラ on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ja (in Japanese).

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. Entry at Gogen-Allguide (in Japanese)
  6. Entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)
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